Bedford house prices increased more than East of England average in January

House prices increased by 2.3 per cent – more than the average for the East of England – in Bedford in January, new figures show.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 6.3 per cent annual growth.

The average Bedford house price in January was £305,621, Land Registry figures show – a 2.3 per cent increase on December.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across the East of England, where prices increased 0.7 per cent, and Bedford outperformed the 0.5 per cent drop for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Bedford rose by £18,000 – putting the area 26th among the East of England’s 50 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in North Norfolk, where property prices increased on average by 14.1 per cent, to £294,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in Peterborough gained 1.7 per cent in value, giving an average price of £199,000.

WINNERS AND LOSERS

Owners of semi-detached houses had the biggest improvement in property prices in Bedford in January – they increased 2.8 per cent, to £305,973 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 7.2 per cent.

Among other types of property:

Detached: up 2.2 per cent monthly; up 7.2 per cent annually; £499,972 average

Terraced: up 2.3 per cent monthly; up 6.8 per cent annually; £239,374 average

Flats: up 1.3 per cent monthly; up 2.1 per cent annually; £165,383 average

FIRST STEPS ON THE PROPERTY LADDER

First-time buyers in Bedford spent an average of £247,000 on their property – £13,000 more than a year ago, and £48,000 more than in December 2015.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £348,000 on average in January – 41.2 per cent more than first-time buyers.

HOW DO PROPERTY PRICES IN BEDFORD COMPARE?

Buyers paid 1.6 per cent less than the average price in the East of England (£311,000) in January for a property in Bedford. Across the East of England, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £249,000.

The most expensive properties in the East of England were in Three Rivers – £533,000 on average, and 1.7 times as much as in Bedford. Three Rivers properties cost 2.8 times as much as homes in Great Yarmouth (£189,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average January sale price of £1.3 million could buy 14 properties in Blaenau Gwent (average £93,000).